Vehicle-curtain.



W. H. GOODFELLOW.

VEHICLE CURTAIN. APPLIOATION FILED 111:0. 1641912.

Patented July 1, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSL'S:

' INVENTOR folded back, and whichcan, be produced. at

' P such curtains-must be flexible in order that they may slide. freely on the cables, and then- WILLARD H. GooDrELLow, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

I VEHICLE-CURTAIN.

specification of'Letters I'atent.

Patented July 1,1913;

Applicationfiled'ibeceniber 16, 1912. serial No. 737,001.

To all'whom it may concern:

FELLOW, a citizen of the United States,- and,

a resident of Detroit, in the county'lof WVayne and State of Michigan, have invented. anew andv Improved j Vehicle-Curtain, of which thefollowingis a specifica- This invention "relates to means for clos ing; the spaces between the bows supporting the tops of vehicles, particularly of auto mobiles, and its object. is to provide a curtain" which can'be easily raised or' -lowered,-

- which can be swung transversely of the ve{ hicle so that the top jmay -be collapsed or relatively small cost.

posed bf longitudinally. extending "celluloid or other This invention consists, in combinationv witha vehicle and its'top, of aicurtain. companels of transparent; inateria'l properly mounted onflexible material-- such as waterproofed canvasior leather, t6gether with means for raising the. curtain, and with furtherineans for holding it improper position when'swung transversely of-the ve" hie-1e.

In the accompanying drawings Figure" l is a longitudinal section of an automobile topshowing the curtain mounted, on, the

bows; l ig. 21s an elevation of the-curtain when folded; F 1g. 3 1s a cross section on the line 3 3 of Fig.2. Fig. 4 is a perspective showingthe hook for holding'the cur-'- tain in folded position. Fig. 5 is a transverse section ot the top showing the curtains swung inwardly so that the top may be folded back or collapsed. Fig. 6 is a detail of the device formhol'ding thefree end {of the curtain in position when swung trans- F1g's.-; .7 and Bare per-i versely of the top;

' spective views of means-forpivoting one guides for the straps used to raise-and lower -conventionally and has s1de--'2-,.a f"hood.3 and a. side door end of the curtain-supporting Irod'." Fig.v 9- is any elevation of the' bottom end of; the

in its lowered posr curtain when secured v tion. Figs. 10 and 11 are'views of'the metal the curtains.

Similar reference characters'refer to like.-

parts throughout the' sever al' views. 1 a

1 a'nmautoinobile "bod Extendingupwardly from the .side are Jthe'lbows 5,- 6 and 7,, and

shown the vehicle is usually so restricted that it is quite difiicult to close the same by 'means of previouslykbeen these cables. .Such a construction, however, 1s 'often unsatisfactory for the reason that the curtain is not'sti'fi' enough to resist the there fore all windows should have considerable length horizon-tally,

a matter of minor importance. 'But if wall, the objects;'passi'ng not only indistinct because'-of'-.theinter-' rupteclness of the View,

'to pr'oducea curtain having'windows ofextreme length, sacrificing. the height of these through the eyes f13 projecting from the how 5. Theo'ppos'ite' turned. down"to form a "and 6. This curtain-is preferably formed preferably waterproo f. series of horizonover these-bows, an d may have a frontrod :10,andthe usual straps llniay extend from thi'srod 'toIt-he front of the 'hood'for the purpose of keeping the top properly stretched. The opening between the bows 5 "and 6 "through which the passengers leave removable curtains, and. stationary curtains cannot be used',' nfor in such a case-.itwould be impossible to gain entrance to (the back end of the vehicle. Flexible wire cables have strung between therods 5 and 6, and curta ns have been mounted on 'pressure of-the -wind, and it is impossible.

"so in substantially horizontal planes and.

.but the continual" flicker of the light and shade is very trying onx't-he-eyes. I have therefore endeavored windows totheconvenience of folding the which 'f' has a. downt-urned end f extending This at 10 supports the curtain. which-sis: adapted to be folded on'horizon't al lines and from a sheet; 16 of canvas or 0therfabric,.1' o

but their height is the window'isnarrow horizontally, the object is lost to view substantially iimmediatelyj after .it is seen, andifanumberof narrow 'vertical windows are mounted; in acurtain: or:

.th'ese windows are p t-em. Pivotally mounted on one of the .bo'w's,' preferably on the bow5, is a metal: 1'od'1'2' wirendofthe bar 10 is hook 14- that extends through" hef-ey'elficarried, by the. bowb.

of a circumferentially extending wire rod 19. The band 1 8 is sewed to the sh'eet 16 and. a line of stitches preferably ex ends through the fabric 16, the celluloid :1 the band 18. panels which are connected by the fabric 16. The lower edge. of the fabric 16, which forms the curtain, is preferably turned over as shown in Fig. 3 and embracesarod 19. Referring now to Fig. .9, it will be-noticed that the'side 2 of'the car has a pair ,of rings 20 projecting outwardly, one on each side of the door 4. The rod 19 is resilient and may be bent so that .both of its ends'can be inserted inthe rings 20', whereupon the rod is; released and straightens itself, thereby securing the lower end 'ofthe curtain in proper position as shown in Fig. 9. When ,it is desired to release the lower end, a passenger reaches down between theQlower end of the curtain and the door 4 and merely pushes outwardly atthe middle ofthe lower edge; of this curtain, thereby bending the rod 19 until the'chordof the curve produced in the rod isof less length than the distance between the stationary rings 20:, whereupon the curtain will swing" outwardly and be free. When this'is don'e it "will'be necessary to lift the lowerend of the scurta-in and move the. rod 19 ,Jdiagonally inwardly between,the bows 5 and 6.

In order tofold-up the curtain, a shown in Fig. 3, a series of wire loops are mounted on the flexible materia 1m. hinges between the al ernatepanels. In Figs. 10 a1id'11 a preferred device is illustrated which-xforms very desirable loops 'andconsists ofa body 21 having a pair of lugs 22 through-which a pivot 23 extends.

and

. 5 A pin 24 has an-eye 25 through which this pivot 23 extends, and this pin 24 is'bent outwardly'at its middle portion to form a loop 26.. -The free end of the pin is retained by a hook 27 formed on the opposite end 5 of the body. The pin 24 is pressed through small holes formed in the fabric so that the loop 26 will be on one side of the fabric while-the body of this device is on the other. These loops extend a sufficient distance from .the -'fabricto permit a flexible connector, such as a leather strap 30 to pas?J through thesamefl The free end of this onnector may be provided with a ring 31, and passes around a roller 32 journaled on the rod 10,

whichroller has end flanges to hold the strap in place. A ring 33 may be employed to hold the connector around the roller 32,

as shown in Figs; 2 and 3. After passing through the loops 26 projecting froin-the 5 inner side of the curtain asfshownnri Fig.

These windows constitute 16 where it forms -1, the end of the connector is attached to the lowest loop on the curtain. It will be apparent that any desired form. of-strap or cord may be employed for this purpose. After the curtain has been folded up in the manner shown in Fig. 3, by pulling down on the connector 32, a hook-36, which ls'also mounted on the rod 10,may be engaged with another loo-p 26 .projectin-g from the curtain. in-line with the lowest loops -to which the connector is attached, as shown in Fig. 4. It is apparent-that a rigid rod 10 cannot be left in the position shown in Fig. 1 when a collapsible top is'to be folded back. It is therefore necessary to provide for the swinging of the folded curtain as shown in Fig. 3, parallel to the tops of the-bows. This may be accomplished by securing fastening devices ofany desired type near the center of the bow on which the rods 10 aremounted, to engage the free ends of the rods 10. One form .of such fastening devices is illustrated in Fig, 6 and consists in a plate 34 adapted to be secured to the bow 5, to which plate is hinged a tongue '35 provided with a slot 37 adapted to receive the down-turned .end 12 of the'rod 10. When-therefore it is desired to lower the top, and the curtain has been folded up to the form shown in Fig. 3, the hook 12 is disengaged from the" eye 13, the chords 30 are wound around the curtain as shown in Fig. 5, the curtains are swung transversely of the vehicle, and the tongue 35 is swung over the free end'of the rod 10, therebv holding the entire structure in proper position where it will not interfere with the holding. back of the top.

In Fig. 2 the eyes 13 are shown projecting from the how 5. If desired the bolts for these eyes 13 may extend through holes in washers 38' on the bow 5, any desired method being employed to hold the parts together, such as the nuts 39, shown 111' Fig. Another device which may be employed is shown in Fig. 7 and consists of a split sleeve 40 having flanges 41 secured together by the screw 42. A rigid eye 43 extends from the sleeve 40 and .into it the bent end of the rod 10 is hooked.

It will be apparent from examination of Fig. 5 that when the curtain is in the.position shown in Fig. 1, there will be some space between the curtain and t1 lower edge of the material forming the top 9. In order to prevent snow and rain blOWlIL up through this space, the upper edge 0 the curtain may be sewed down around therod 10 along the line 45, as shown in Figs. 3 and 7, and the free edge 46 may then project outwardly so that it may contact with the 25 lower edge of the top 9 and thus close the space betweenthe top and the curtain.

It'will be readily understood thata u'r \tain .48, constructed as just described, may

be en ploved as awind-shield, and be per- 1 manently mounted on the front rod of the top of the vehicle, and have its lower edge detachably secured to the upper edge of the dash-board.

The proportions of the panels of these curtains, the devices for foldingthem, the means for securing them in position, and ,the

details of. construction may all be changed straps connecting to said panels and'passing over said rod whereby said curtain may be raised so that said panels will hang vertically side by side along the rod and wherebya free exit and entrance space may be provided between the uprights, and means for holding said folded curtain transversely ofthe car with its panels vertical.

2. In a vehicle, the combination of a body having a foldable top provided with front and rear bows collapsible therewith and con necting it with the body, a rod within the top pivoted to the front bow and detachably connected to the other, a 'fiexible curtain sus-' pended from said' rod andconsisting of narrow panels hinged together along horizontal lines, means engaging said panels whereby the curtain may be so raised and folded that the .panels will hang vertically side by side along the rod within the top, and means secured to the middle portion of the front bow for engaging the free end of said rod when the folded curtain is swung parallel to the bows preparatory to collapsing the top.

3. In a vehicle, the combination of a body having a top provided with front-and rear bows, a rod pivoted to one of said bows, and

'detachably 'engagingthe other, a curtain suspended from saidrod and consisting of a series of substantially rigid panels hinged together on horizontal lines, means to fold said curtain to bring the panels up to the rod, means to hold the curtain in folded position, and means secured to one of the bows tohold the folded curtain transversely of the top with its panels vertical.

4. In a vehicle, the combination'of'a body having atop comprising-a cover. and bows to support the same, eyes secured to said bows, a rod extending between adjacent bows at one side of the vehicle and having downturned ends extending into said eyes, a: curtain suspended from the rod .and comprising stiff panels connected by flexible fabric on cloth, reinforced by a metal rod, a roller mounted on the rod, metal loops secured to the upper edge of each alternate panel, and a flexible connector, such as a strap, extending around said roller-and down through said loops to the lowest panel, whereby said curtain may be folded.

5. In a vehicle, the combination of a body and a top therefor, a rod supportedby said top, rollers mounted on the rod, a curtain suspended from said rod and consisting of a series of transparent panels and a flexible sheet of fabric connecting the panels and the supporting rod on horizontal lines, metal loops on alternate panels, and means ex tending around the rollers on the supporting rod' and through the loops to the lowest panel whereby the curtain may be drawn up thorizontal-lines,eachpanel consisting of'a 

